SHARJAH: Most of the girls at the fourth edition of Afaaq Leadership Camp, which was held by Sajaya Young Ladies of Sharjah, have been praising the camp and were happy with the lessons that they learnt.

Rim Ahmed Alduwilah, 14, mentioned that she joined the camp to help achieve her goal in life. “I wish to be a minister, a useful and successful society member.”

Hessa Yousif Al Zarooni, 15, said, “I learnt the leadership spirit, to be more self-confident, responsible, and gain more experience from my friends in the camp, as it was my first-time experience sleeping in a hotel far away from my family.”

Hajar Yousef Ibrahim, 18, learnt that a person has to never give up, as loss does not mean failure. “Each girl has a creative power, and she is considered a creative project.”

She also gained various skills including solving problems, planning to achieve goals, and how to be innovative to serve the community. “I learnt what the difference between a goal is, where we work towards achieving it, and then we think about one more goal, and the destination could be a long-term journey.”

When asked what was the most fruitful part about the camp, Hessa mentioned that she loved the ‘adventures day’ where she enjoyed motivating and helping her friend who was scared of the adventures.

Rim said, “The most effective part of the camp was when they gave us a workshop on proposing our ideas in assisting the community development, so we had the idea of holding a festival called ‘Making the Dream True’, where each had a unique mission, such as helping cancer patients and orphans.

“I learnt something I never knew before, that the leader has to be a good listener, not a talkative person as most of the people think that the leader should talk too much! And one more thing, face the challenges, especially negative people who are bent on breaking your motivation,” she added.

Moza Obaid Al Salami, 17, urged each girl to try the experience of Afaaq Camp during the winter break, as it was a very exciting and useful experience that would enable girls invest in their leisure time.

Most of the girls are joining the camp for the first time, however Amal Aldhmani, 17, enrolled in the camp for the second time.

“The last camp was focusing on cooperation and spirit of teamwork, while this camp focuses on innovation, creativity, and talent,” she said.

“I have been chosen before as an ambassador of innovation to represent the country in London with the Ministry of Education. This camp taught me a lot and I will be applying what I learnt in my work with the ministry,” Amal added.

Girls of the camp were aged between 13 and 18 years old. Methayel Mohammed Al Sereidi, 13, was the youngest girl at the camp.

“Discipline is the most important part that I learnt at the camp, as we were praying the five prayers on time and everything was on time,” she indicated.